GEOG3721: FIELD STUDIES IN RURAL ASIA

• GEOG2472 SOCIAL RESEARCH IN GEOGRAPHY

• None

• GEOG3491 ENVIRONMENTAL PROCESSES & CHANGE, GEOG3691 FIELD RESEARCH IN GLACIAL ENVIRONMENTS: ICELAND CASE STUDY, GEOG3701 MOUNTAIN HAZARDS, GEOG3501 URBAN CHANGE IN EUROPE, GEOGNEW06 DYNAMIC MOUNTAIN ENVIRONMENTS

• The module will introduce students to field methods and development challenges in rural Asia. It will combine an intensive field-based experience, staying in villages in rural Asia where Durham students will be linked with local students, with the identification, development and use of a variety of qualitative and quantitative research methods in real world contexts. The students will also be introduced to the specific development challenges of the country and context where the field work is to be conducted.

• The module will be based around a two week field trip to an Asian country over the summer between Levels 2 and 3 during which students will undertake a guided period of field research in a rural context. Students will be divided into groups (2-4) and, accompanied by a student from a local university, will be placed in a village context. Here they will undertake an independent investigation into a selected rural development issue.
• The field trip will be preceded by three introductory lectures (compulsory attendance) after the Level 2 examination period, to introduce students to the country to be visited, the field and cultural contexts, health and safety issues, and the topics to be investigated. During this period students will begin to provisionally select an issue for investigation, and design an appropriate field methodology.
• During the Level 3 academic year, three half day writing workshops will support and inform the completion of the final reports. Two workshops will be scheduled for the first term and one for the second. In addition, there will be two one hour tutorial sessions for each of the research teams, one in term 1 and the second in term 2.

Subject-specific Knowledge:

• On successful completion of the module, students will:
• Have an awareness of development challenges in a rural area of Asia
• Be able to link general theories of development with specific development contexts and this in turn with a personal field experience

Subject-specific Skills:

• On successful completion of the module, students will:
• Be able to identify and use appropriate and relevant research methodologies to generate data to investigate identified topics
• Undertake analysis and interpretation of a range of qualitative and quantitative data
• Produce methodological and empirical reports using this data
• Reflect on their positionality in a context of unequal economic power and the broader ethical considerations of undertaking research in another culture

Key Skills:

• On successful completion of the module, students will:
• Work in teams with Durham students and with students from other cultures
• Learn to work independently over an extended period in a developing world, field context
• Prepare group and individual reports based on primary research
• Analyse and interpret primary data, linking grounded theory with policy and development challenges

• The module will be based around an intensive two-week field experience, which will include a period living in a village. The field trip will be preceded by introductory lectures and followed by three half-day writing workshops and two one hour tutorials sessions with each of the field research groups

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